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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25634677">Full Disclosure</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lettersfromnowhere/pseuds/lettersfromnowhere'>lettersfromnowhere</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>An Awkward Turtleduck with Actual Turtleducks, F/M, Soft Awkward Zuko is Best Zuko, Zutara Week, Zutara Week 2020, day 6: affirm, ‘Unnecessarily Whimsical’ is becoming my trademark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:47:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,342</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25634677</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lettersfromnowhere/pseuds/lettersfromnowhere</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Some of the best listeners can’t even speak - and when you’re in love, sometimes that makes it easier to let it all out. </p><p>(Written for Zutara Week Day 6: Affirm.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katara/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>144</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Full Disclosure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I just really love the idea of shy!awkward!zuko talking to turtleducks. That’s it. That’s my only excuse.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span class="s6">“We’ve both gotten </span> <span class="s6">older</span> <span class="s6"> but she got the better end of that deal.” Zuko absentmindedly rips a chunk of bread off the loaf in his lap, chuckling dryly. “It’s just…she was already beautiful before. And now she’s all grown up, and I don’t even know what to </span> <span class="s7">think.” </span> <span class="s6">There’s no reply, but the </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> cluster at the edge of the pond to catch the hunk of bread he throws them. It’s nice to know they know he’s there. </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">Turtleducks</span> <span class="s6">, Zuko has found over the course of his two-year reign, make excellent companions. He can tell them about pesky nobles without the risk of inspiring a coup; he can ask their advice on political matters and </span> <span class="s7">not </span> <span class="s6">receive eighty-six unwanted opinions about what he should do. </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">He can tell them how he feels about a certain </span> <span class="s6">waterbender</span><span class="s6">-turned-Ambassador who’s grown just a </span> <span class="s7">little </span> <span class="s6">(okay, </span> <span class="s7"><em>much</em>) </span> <span class="s6">more distracting in the years they’ve spent mostly apart. </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">He sighs, ripping off another chunk as he starts up again. “I just…</span> <em><span class="s7">gaah.</span></em><span class="s7">” </span> <span class="s6">He rests his forehead in his palms. “Even if I </span> <span class="s7">did </span> <span class="s6">know how to tell her how I felt, I probably wouldn’t. There’s just so much working against us.” He lobs the bread into the center of the pond. “There’s my Council, and I doubt the Southern Water Tribe would be all that thrilled about it either.” That feels presumptive, so he amends it. “I mean. If she </span> <span class="s7">did </span> <span class="s6">feel the same way, which…I mean, what are the odds? She’s </span> <em><span class="s7">her </span></em> <span class="s6">and I’m </span> <span class="s7"><em>me</em>. </span> <span class="s6">And even if she did, and the Council and her people signed off on it, what would </span> <span class="s7">my </span> <span class="s6">people say?” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">Recently, after an extended visit with Uncle </span><span class="s6">Iroh</span><span class="s6">,</span><span class="s6"> h</span><span class="s6">is brain has</span><span class="s6">started to insert pithy</span> <span class="s6">Iroh-esque</span><span class="s6"> sayings into the mouths of the </span><span class="s6">turtleducks</span><span class="s6"> whenever he consorts with them like this, and he swears he can hear them now: “</span><em><span class="s6">but what does your </span><span class="s7">heart </span></em><span class="s6"><em>say, Zuko?</em>” and “<em>the only true failure is failure to act when it is most important”</em> and “<em>vulnerable is a hard thing to be, but it is a quality of those who find the most fulfillment.</em>” He knows it’s probably just a subconscious attempt to make the fact that the Fire Lord’s most trusted advisors can’t even speak feel less deeply disconcerting, but their </span><span class="s6">Iroh</span><span class="s6">-isms aren’t without a kernel of truth. </span></p><p><span class="s6"><br/></span> <span class="s6">“I </span> <span class="s7">want </span> <span class="s6">to tell her, but I also </span> <span class="s7">don’t, </span> <span class="s6">you </span> <span class="s6">know?</span> <span class="s6"> And having all these reasons not to just makes me more likely to never bring it up.” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">Put like that, Operation: Maybe Tell Katara You Think She’s Neat? Someday? really does</span><span class="s6"> feel</span> <span class="s6">hopeless, and Zuko buries his head in his hands again and only looks up when he feels a tug at the hem of his robes. When he opens his </span><span class="s6">eyes</span><span class="s6"> he sees one of the </span><span class="s6">turtleducks</span><span class="s6"> – the recent hatchling he’s named </span><span class="s6">Fuwa</span><span class="s6"> – pecking at the fabric. He smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“I know, buddy,” he sighs. “I should just get it together and tell her how I feel, right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">Fuwa</span> <span class="s6"> still seems too preoccupied with the red satin of Zuko’s robes to dispense any advice, but Zuko’s pretty sure he’d agree if he could speak. </span></p><hr/><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“</span><span class="s6">It isn’t as if any of you were waiting on this” – Zuko glares at the </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> pointedly – “but I finally kissed Katara last night</span> <span class="s6">.”</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">T</span><span class="s6">rue to form, th</span><span class="s6">e </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> are more interested in the bread he’s brought – it’s a different kind today, a chewy, tangy loaf that the head baker has been experimenting with lately – than in the minutiae of his </span> <span class="s6">still-</span><span class="s6">young relationship, but Zuko doesn’t mind. </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“</span><span class="s6">We were at the festival,”</span> <span class="s6"> he continues. </span> <span class="s6">“I was expected to make an official appearance, of course, but we slipped away.”</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">Most of the </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> are still uninterested, squabbling over the last remnants of a piece of bread, but one – </span> <span class="s6">Tianmei</span> <span class="s6">, a yearling – is waiting at the edge of the pond for the next crumb to fall, knowing she’ll get it if her </span> <span class="s6">pondmates</span> <span class="s6"> are still distracted. Zuko chuckles and indulges her, tossing a generous chunk that the other </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> don’t even see coming. </span> <span class="s7">She’s smart, </span> <span class="s6">he realizes. </span> <span class="s7">Reminds me of someone. </span> <span class="s6">“You get it, </span> <span class="s6">Tianmei</span> <span class="s6">, don’t you?” he asks. </span> <span class="s6">“I’d been waiting for it to feel like the right time. Just like you did.” He wishes he could reach out and scratch the little </span> <span class="s6">turtleduck’s</span> <span class="s6"> downy head – he’s in the kind of easy, affectionate mood today that makes him wish he could pat the entire world on the back just for existing – but she’d probably bite him, so he refrains. </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">This was probably a good call, as </span> <span class="s6">Tianmei</span> <span class="s6"> just stares at the loaf of bread in his hands</span> <span class="s6">. </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">Zuko carries on anyway. </span> <span class="s6">“</span><span class="s6">We were just walking through the festival, trying not to be seen, and there were these flower vendors.” He smiles at the memory. “And…I saw Katara looking at this display of fire lilies.” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">Tianmei</span> <span class="s6"> squawks, climbing out of the pond to prod at his leg with her beak until she feeds him again. This catches the other </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6">’ attention, too, and soon he’s lobbing chunks left and right just to prevent a mass exodus from the pond. “I’m beginning to think you don’t even care, </span> <span class="s6">Tianmei</span><span class="s6">,” he teases, throwing one last chunk of bread to the edge of the pond for her to chase. “Anyway. I bought her one when her back was turned.” He scratches the back of his neck. “I, uh…I don’t </span> <span class="s7">think </span> <span class="s6">the vendor knew who I was, but she did wink at me, so there’s…a chance that the entire Fire Nation is going to know about this within a week.” </span> <span class="s6">He sighs. “Not exactly what I wanted, but what can I do? So, anyway, back to the story. I was…</span> <span class="s6">kinda</span> <span class="s6"> trying to carry it around in my sleeve for a while so she wouldn’t see it, which was awkward, and then we were standing on this bridge, and I just remember thinking, ‘this is it.’ </span> <span class="s6">So</span> <span class="s6"> I gave it to her, helped her put it in her hair…and she leaned in and kissed me.”</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">He knows he looks a little bit ridiculous right now, grinning from ear to ear and talking to </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> and maybe (probably) blushing a little, but he doesn’t care. He’s been telling these guys about Katara for so long that he thinks they’ve earned the right to be in the know about these things. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“And yes, it was as good as I’d imagined.” </span>
</p><hr/><p> </p><p><span class="s6">In the earlier days of his relationship with Katara, Zuko’s one-sided conversations with the </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> revolve around </span> <span class="s6">moments – important milestones, his confession and their first kiss and the first time Katara tells him she loves him (that one took </span> <span class="s7">several </span> <span class="s6">conversations to process) and the first time he says it back. He tells them about the first time she sees him cry and has to </span> <span class="s6">try not to cry himself. He </span> <span class="s6">rants</span> <span class="s6"> to them with such passion that they migrate to the far end of the pond when he finds out that some of the councilmen are giving her trouble. They’re the third people to whom he shows them the betrothal necklace he </span> <span class="s6">carves</span> <span class="s6"> for her (after Uncle and her family, of course). </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">He has very little need for that kind of anxiety-ridden venting now, but he still comes to</span> <span class="s6"> talk to</span> <span class="s6"> them. Because their relationship may be easier now, but words aren’t.  </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“You have no idea how happy she makes me,” he says, lying in the grass beside the pond a week before their wedding. He’s staring off into the clouds, feeling like one of them. “I don’t deserve her, I really don’t.</span> <span class="s6">” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">One curious </span> <span class="s6">turtleduck</span> <span class="s6">, a baby he hasn’t even named yet, takes it upon itself to use the reclining Fire Lord as some sort of climbing structure as he expounds upon the surpassing beauty of his fiancée. He reaches to scratch its </span> <span class="s6">head, but</span> <span class="s6"> doesn’t move. “She’s like the ocean,” he tells the climbing duckling. He feels poetic today. “I mean, think about it. The ocean’s more powerful than we could even imagine, but…also more beautiful.” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">He thinks of eyes as blue and deep as the sea and decides it’s a metaphor worth waxing poetic about in a little more detail. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“I mean, it could kill you in an instant, and you have to respect that about it,” he continues – yes, this really is a perfect analogy, because he’s not above admitting that he likes that in a woman – “but if you’re just walking along the shore appreciating it, the waves won’t hurt you. And that’s when you realize how beautiful it is.” He smiles to himself. “I mean, it’s always beautiful, even when it’s trying to kill you, but if you give it the respect it deserves it </span> <span class="s7">wants </span> <span class="s6">to show you how beautiful it can be. How much it cares about us puny humans on land, you know?”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">The duckling pecks at his collar. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“And it does that. Not just by being beautiful.” He sits up just enough to gently pluck the duckling off his collar before it can get any further. “We rely on the ocean to get places, and for food, and all kinds of things. If you treat it right, nothing is more giving than the ocean.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">The </span> <span class="s6">turtleduckling</span> <span class="s6"> has started to climb again, and again, Zuko gently lifts it away from the fussy, delicate stitching of his collar. </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“Just like Katara,” he says, just to bring the analogy </span> <span class="s6">full-circle</span> <span class="s6">. “She’s terrifying if you’re on her bad side. </span><span class="s6">More powerful than most people ever realize. She could kill me in ways I’d never think you could kill someone.” He doesn’t think he needs to say that he’s not as concerned about this as he should be. “But she’s also…kind and generous and forgiving and…</span> <span class="s7">soft.” </span> <span class="s6">He strokes the </span> <span class="s6">turtleduckling</span> <span class="s6"> because the mere mention of her makes him feel a little more affectionate. “She’s been through so much, but she’s never let it harden her heart.” He thinks about the way she melts into his arms when she’s tired or anxious or sad – </span> <span class="s7">his arms, </span> <span class="s6">ones that belong to her former enemy. “And…those eyes. Agni, those </span> <span class="s7"><em>eyes</em>.” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">He doesn’t think he has to explain that, either. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“I don’t know why, of all the people in the world, someone like that would choose </span> <span class="s7">me,” </span> <span class="s6">he muses, “but I’m going to do my best to make sure she never regrets it.” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">He’s glad, in this moment, that he has a place like this to come and forget that the fine, fanciful words he spins when he’s not around his fiancée promptly flee when she’s around him. There’s a special kind of breathless that only she makes him, and he’ll never get sick of it, but sometimes he wonders if </span> <span class="s7">she </span> <span class="s6">will, because Katara’s so good with words. She always knows what he needs to hear and she’s so forthright in saying it all.</span> <span class="s6"> There’s a reason she was the first to </span> <span class="s6">say</span> <span class="s6"> ‘I love you,’ and he knows how much words mean to her, and how much she probably wishes he were better at putting the feelings he strives to show her every single day into words. </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">He wishes he were, too. But a little part of him still reverts to the awkward teenager rehearsing an apology to a badger frog when he’s faced with the idea of admitting any of what he’s just told the </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> so </span> <span class="s6">forthcomingly</span> <span class="s6"> to the love of his life. </span></p><p><span class="s6"><br/></span> <span class="s6">So, for now, the sweet words he’d rather show than tell her are property of this moment, a handful of </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6">, and his own mind. </span></p><hr/><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“I should probably learn to use words,” Zuko admits, stealing away for a now-rare quiet moment with his old companions. He’d have brought Katara – she loves the </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6">, laughed when he sheepishly told her he’d named them all and</span> <span class="s6"> told him he never failed to surprise her – but…well. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">He’s been married for exactly three weeks and one day and he has Things to Say, things he should probably tell his wife but still doesn’t have the guts to blurt out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“I know, isn’t it about time that I start going to Katara with this stuff instead of you?” he asks after a pause. “But…Agni. I always say I’m going to start getting better about that, but then I just </span> <span class="s7">look </span> <span class="s6">at her and…” he covers his face helplessly. “I can’t do it. I’m just so in awe of her, and I’m so</span> <span class="s6">…I don’t know, afraid of messing it up? I know, I know, it’s stupid. She’s my </span> <span class="s7">wife. </span> <span class="s6">If she had a problem with my being bad at words, we wouldn’t be here. But I still…I don’t know!” He flops back against the grass, and he knows he’s being dramatic, but he’s just got to be self-indulgent sometimes. “I tell her I love her every five seconds, but I don’t say that-</span> <span class="s7">hey!” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">One of the older </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> is pecking at his sleeve, evidently investigating to see if he’s got any bread hidden in his clothes. “No, sorry, not today,” he tells her. “Anyway. I never tell her how proud I am of all the changes she’s making, or that she’ll get in the Council’s face like it’s nothing if she has to.” He chuckles. “Or that there are a lot of times when I’m blown away by how beautiful she is, but never more than when she’s </span> <span class="s6">chewing out someone with a bad plan in a meeting.” He has to stop to shoo the mother </span> <span class="s6">turtleduck</span> <span class="s6"> away from his sleeves again, but he doesn’t miss a beat. “Or that she looks better in red than </span> <span class="s7">anyone </span> <span class="s6">has a right to. Or that I love that she’s smarter than me. Or how much I love it that she still wears Water Tribe stuff sometimes – that she hasn’t let being Fire Lady make her forget where she came from. </span> <span class="s6">And I know she deserves someone who knows how to </span> <span class="s7">tell </span> <span class="s6">her these things</span> <span class="s6">-“</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“Tell her what things?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">Zuko sits bolt upright, blushing like mad (because he’s </span> <span class="s7">still </span> <span class="s6">never been able to shake that habit, something Katara teases him </span> <span class="s7">relentlessly </span> <span class="s6">for) at the sound of his wife’s voice. He tries to stammer out a reply but finds that he can’t. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“No, keep going,” Katara prompts, approaching him. “I want to hear this.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“I, uh, um…” Zuko stammers, taking her hand when she </span> <span class="s6">wraps her arms around</span> <span class="s6"> him </span> <span class="s6">from behind </span> <span class="s6">and grabbing on a little too tight. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“Are you doing okay?” she asks. “I’m sorry, did I…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“No, it’s fine.” Zuko knows his voice sounds too strained for that to be believable, but he doesn’t exactly </span> <span class="s6">know what else to say. “I just…” </span> <span class="s7">well, might as well. </span> <span class="s6">“Sometimes I talk to the </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6">…” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“I can see that.” She lets go of his hands so that </span> <span class="s6">she can circle around to sit beside him, leaning into his side</span> <span class="s6">. “It’s kind of sweet. But I must say I’m a little offended that you prefer their company to mine.” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">He knows that Katara is joking, but he still flushes, embarrassed. “</span> <span class="s6">Of course</span> <span class="s6"> I don’t, my love-”</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“Oh, so you’re using pet names </span> <span class="s6">now?</span> <span class="s6"> This must be bad.” Katara leans in and pecks his cheek playfully. “What do you tell them that you apparently can’t tell me?” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“Um.” Now he knows he looks genuinely ashamed. “Well, you know I’m not always…good with words.” Katara just squeezes the hand she’s still holding, encouraging him to go on. “And there are a lot of things I want to tell you but…can’t get out.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“I don’t mind that, Zuko,” Katara says, and he’s pretty sure she’s fibbing, but he doesn’t press it. “I know how you are. I know how you feel about me without you having to say it.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“But that’s just it,” he sighs. “I know that words mean a lot to you, and you deserve to hear them, and you always know what to say to me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">She doesn’t deny it this time, and the playfulness has vanished from her expression, and now Zuko </span> <span class="s7">has </span> <span class="s6">to do something, so he swallows his embarrassment and awkwardness and starts talking. </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“You’re a natural at this,” he blurts out, speaking far too quickly in his haste to rectify his blunder. “Being Fire Lady? It’s like you were </span> <span class="s7">born </span> <span class="s6">for it. Remember that time, when you first became Ambassador, that Councilman Yang said you’d never be a good diplomat because you were too outspoken? And then how at our wedding you told him you’d-”</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“’Never make a diplomat, which is why I became Fire Lady’? </span> <span class="s6">Of course</span> <span class="s6"> I do.” Katara’s smiling again, maybe blushing a little. “What about it?”</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“I’ve never been </span> <span class="s6">more proud</span> <span class="s6"> of you,” </span> <span class="s6">he continues, his pace a little less breakneck now that he knows she’s feeling a little better. “And that’s how I feel every </span> <span class="s7">day. </span> <span class="s6">And I’d tell you, but…honestly, words just don’t work when I’m around you.” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“What, five years together and I still make you speechless?” she grins, playing with his collar as she pecks his lips. “Hm. Makes me wonder what else you haven’t been able to tell me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“Um.” Now he </span> <span class="s7">knows </span> <span class="s6">he’s bright red. He’s been ruling a country for six years and Katara’s been by his side for four of them, and he </span> <span class="s7">still </span> <span class="s6">can’t not blush when she gets like this. “A lot of things I wouldn’t want to risk someone overhearing.” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“Oh, </span> <span class="s7">those </span> <span class="s6">kinds of things?” She grins wolfishly. “I’d-”</span></p><p><span class="s6"><br/></span> <span class="s6">“And I love it when you wear Water Tribe stuff!” Zuko blurts out, his eyes wide as he scans the garden for onlookers, his brain screaming at him to divert the topic. “And you’re like the human version of the ocean, and…uh…” he searches his brain frantically for another idea.</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“Zuko, hey, </span> <span class="s6">c’mere</span> <span class="s6">.” Katara laughs, her expression </span> <span class="s6">softening as she lays her palm on her forearm. “You don’t have to work yourself into a panic.” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“I just wanted to tell you how I felt,” he says lamely, feeling a little sheepish. “Sorry.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“You married me, Zuko. I think that’s telling enough.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“Yeah, but you like to hear the reasons sometimes, don’t you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">She snuggles into him. “Mm. That I do.” Then she turns to him and smirks. “Was that so bad?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“Not really,” Zuko says. This is clearly not an accurate statement and she knows it, so he tries the ‘play-it-off-with-humor’ tactic. “Next time you yell at a councilman with a shortsighted idea, I’ll tell you I picked a good Fire Lady and kiss you in front of the entire council.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“I’d say I’d like that, but I k</span> <span class="s6">now it would be a little bit much for you, so I won’t.” </span> <span class="s6">She presses her cheek to the fabric at the crook of his neck. “But I really do appreciate it, Zuko.”</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“</span> <span class="s6">And I appreciate you,” he murmurs, turning her head so he can kiss her until she presses a finger to his lips. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“Not yet,” she chides. “Now it’s my turn.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“Hm?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“I love that you tell the </span> <span class="s6">turtleducks</span> <span class="s6"> how much you love me because you’re still too shy to say it to my face,” she says, punctuating the statement with a quick press of her lips to his forehead. “I love </span> <span class="s6">how much you’ve grown as a leader, and your loyalty, and how you bring me fire lilies, and how you stare whenever you see me wearing blue.” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“Do I ever </span> <span class="s7">not </span> <span class="s6">stare at you?” Zuko teases, and his tone is </span> <span class="s6">light</span> <span class="s6">but his heart feels like it’s about to burst. “Because I might need to correct that.”</span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“Sorry, I wasn’t aware that I was so distracting,” </span> <span class="s6">Katara laughs. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="s6">“Extremely.” He lifts her chin so she’s looking up at him. “You’re…one-in-a-million, Katara.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">“Likewise,” she murmurs, “and I </span> <span class="s7">really </span> <span class="s6">want to kiss you, so could you please get on that?” </span></p><p> </p><p><span class="s6">He’s all too happy to oblige</span><span class="s6">, because, though </span><span class="s6">Zuko will do nearly anything to make her happy, at the end of the day</span> <span class="s6">he thinks he’ll always prefer to show rather than tell. </span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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